Headfirst
by ComatoseButterfly
Summary: Alcohol; it can't heal love wounds, look after an 8 year old magician or recover an attorney's badge. But it can make someone feel better, and that's all Phoenix Wright wants. NaruMitsu - though it's subtle to begin with.
1. Phone Calls

** NaruMitsu fic on the WrightWorthyEnigmar family. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>"Daddy!" 8 year-old Trucy Wright squealed as she ran into the kitchen that morning. The strong scent of alcohol reached her nostrils and made her gag, but she tried not to show it. He'd had a rough time this past week. She didn't want to upset him.<p>

But one look at the scene told her something already had. He was slumped over at the table, head hidden in his hands. In front of him lay a ripped envelope, and a blotched hand-written letter. Trucy came to the conclusion that it had been stained by Phoenix's tears.

She carefully reached over, trying to pry the note from the table without him noticing. His head seemed to snap back straight at her movement and he quickly reached out and took it back from her. She did, however, catch a glimpse of the name written at the bottom - though that part was the hardest to read.

Miles Edgeworth.

She remembered Phoenix's old friend's name. He was a prosecutor - a _demon _prosecutor, some would say. He'd rung just the day after Phoenix had been disbarred. Though they'd never met in person, from the stories and one-sided phone calls the only impression he'd ever managed to leave on Trucy was that he was cold and aloof, uninterested in doing anything but lecturing her Daddy about how he "threw his life down the drain, headfirst". Trucy thought this was a peculiar comment - did lives have heads? She'd raised this point to her Daddy casually after the call had ended, but he'd only sighed and huffed about it being a... met-a-four? She hadn't been able to work out the correct spelling. She was always bad at that.

"I-it's just the, um, bill..." Phoenix lied, though it wasn't a good place to start in convincing her everything was okay. His eyes also gave him in - they were puffy and swollen up, two small red pillows over the bed sheet white of his unshaven face. She couldn't tell if they were sore from the alcohol or the crying, but both were as bad as the other. "I mean, we can pay it off alright! I'm just a little worried about the future... No, I shouldn't be leaning on you like this..." His voice trailed off into silence, and Trucy didn't know quite what to say in reply. Tell him it would be alright? Tell him she could work? She'd told him that, the day he took her in, but he didn't ever think she was serious. This only served to dampen her pride, but she ignored it. It wasn't easy to believe an 8 year-old could really _work _for money.

She still would, though.

"Don't worry, Daddy!" She flung an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close though the stench only worsened as she drew nearer to him. "We can pay it off alright. But listen to what I've been trying to tell you - this place should be an agency instead of an office. Think of it as an upgrade, you know?" She gave him a toothy grin - though she was down a tooth after losing one not too long before.

The ends of his mouth curled over, but Trucy didn't know whether to take it as a returning smile or a trick of the light. She hoped all too much it was the former.

"Thanks, Trucy."

It was the closest thing to a real smile she'd had from him all week.

Since that phone call, at least.

It had come swiftly, just before the letter, and completely out of the blue.

"An agency?" The usually soft-spoken man screamed down his phone to his old friend. "You have got to be kidding me, Wright. Please, please tell me you're not serious."

"Shut up, alright? I need the money. And this kid's got talent." The ex-lawyer replied, just as angry as the man on the other side of the line was but more controlled with his ways of showing it. Miles Edgeworth was usually the calm one, so it didn't fit right that Phoenix had the cool-head in this scenario.

"So what, you're using your client's daughter as some kind of way of making money?" Miles sighed, though Phoenix could never bring himself to do something like that.

"Well, she's more like my daughter now really," Phoenix answered, ignoring what Miles was implying. "She addresses me as Daddy, and it's been a week with not even a sighting of anyone by the name of Shadi Enigmar or Zak Gramarye. Not even word of anyone with some version of those names."

"Sounds like some jackass father."

"Tell me about it. I've been left with his kid."

"You really threw your life into the gutter headfirst, didn't you, Wright?" Miles seemed to enjoy starting on Phoenix. Though he was unsure why. "I wonder how long until you crawl over to Germany and start living with me."

"As if." Phoenix snorted. "And I did not "throw my life into the gutter headfirst". It just... jumped in there."

The two men chortled together at this. It had been time, too - so long it had been they hadn't shared a laugh as friends.

"I miss you, Wright." Miles said accidently through the chuckles. The man blushed furiously, though Phoenix couldn't see it. Feeling he'd said too much, he clicked the red button of his phone and hung up. He'd slipped up. He couldn't ever let Phoenix know... No, it would be too awkward... And obviously now he couldn't call again. At least, not for a while.

_There you go screwing everything up again, Miles..._

"M-miles...?" Phoenix stuttered, just as embarrassed as the other man. Had he imagined it? Had they already finished their conversation? He didn't know what to think. And it seemed now he'd been thrown into a gutter of discomfort, alongside the rest of his life.

_Headfirst into a drain, huh?_

From just across the hallway, the young magician had heard quite clearly the conversation between the two men - well, one side of it, at least. From Phoenix's words, she could safely deduce what Miles was saying to him. Though she couldn't pick up the insults to her biological father, she hadn't missed much else.

She wasn't being used, was she?

She shook her head, reassuring herself otherwise.

_Mr Edgeworth's just a jerk. That's all._

Settling on this, the girl in red set to work practicing some more of her tricks, though all needed much improvement before she could earn enough to support two people.

She had to plan to help Phoenix find something else he was good at, other than defending people. Phoenix would be able to show Miles who's life was being wasted in no time, she just knew it. She'd work on her act, too. They'd make it through. They didn't need one of them to be a lawyer to make money.

Though making money was the least of their worries.

* * *

><p>Phoenix was always drunk. In the evenings, at least. Though he never had a morning without suffering a hangover, so it was almost correct. She could sense the pain in his eyes; not the stinging headache, but the true pain he was trying so desperately to drown in the ethanol-tinged liquids. She didn't know how to get him to let go of a bottle. At night, she found he could be quite violent.<p>

She didn't have long to wait to see her first example of this. It occurred only a month after he took her in.

"Put it down, Daddy, you've got to go to bed." She had tried to tell him, over and over again urging him to drop the glass. He didn't say anything coherent, but he kept mumbling, making strange sounds and flailing out of reluctancy. She didn't know how else to help him, only she had to.

"One.. More..." She had managed to pick out from his murmurs. She shook her head fiercely.

"No, then you'll say "another one" and we'll be here all night. Let it go, Daddy, please!" She almost moaned this, but managed to contain herself. She had to be the grown-up here if he was being the baby.

He raised the bottle up high, and she shrieked, preparing for the blow and protecting her head as he shoved her off him. His hand clasped the bottle's neck tight, but before he brought it down to her head he broke down himself, flinging it behind him instead and collapsing into a heap on the floor, sobbing like a little boy who'd just lost his favourite toy.

"I'm so... so sorry, Truce..."

Looking across at the spiky-haired man, besides that he looked rather like a hedgehog with his face in his arms, all she could think about was how much pity she felt for him. He'd lost everything he'd known - maybe she had too, but that only helped her understand the pain he must have been feeling. She just had to help him. How? She had no clue. But the task was hers and hers alone. Mr Edgeworth didn't look like he was going to come help. Uncle Larry... Well, all she'd seen of him was a drunk man in an orange suit flirting with anything that resembled something feminine. He was a bad influence to this, but she couldn't blame him, either.

"I'm so, so sorry..."

The time ticked past, and she eventually worked up the courage to sit by him, patting him lightly on the back and shushing him calmly as he sobbed and sobbed, resting his heavy head on her weak shoulder. She didn't mind though.


	2. The Habit

2 The Habit

Empty green bottles, scattered across the floor.

A strong odor of ethanol vapor filled the room, leaving no space untouched. A small girl in a blue cape sat in the corner of the room - young Trucy Wright, soundly sleeping in the living room in which only a few hours ago she'd almost been abused by her drunk adoptive father, Phoenix Wright.

He was also sleeping in the same room, though across from his daughter in a different corner. Gradually he began to stir, standing up and taking in the scene at hand. His daughter, hidden in a corner of the room; bottles strewn across the floor, some broken; the awful smell that emitted from all his pores. He looked over at the small girl, flushed with guilt. He'd been trusted - maybe not asked, but trusted, certainly - with the role of being her father. It had been a month and already he'd done something unforgivable. He couldn't remember exactly what, but the scene was laid out perfectly for deducing it all.

He'd nearly hit her.

Walking over to the poor girl, he gingerly wrapped her in his arms, a little flustered as after all, she wasn't really his daughter. But he had to get used to it. He picked her up, surprised at how light she was. Sure, she was only 8, but for a girl this old he'd never felt such a small weight on him. He'd carried Pearls on his shoulders before, but she never seemed this light either, though he couldn't call her exactly heavy. He wondered if she'd been eating well - or eating at all. He'd been drunk half the time. Did he even cook her anything?

He carried her up the creaky staircase and into the small bedroom that used to belong to Maya Fey. It was decorated entirely with Samurai merchandise, from Steel Samurai posters stuck across every wall to Pink Princess bed sheets and Nickel Samurai plushies. It was perfect for a girl Trucy's age; Phoenix couldn't help smirking a little at this, though he missed his aide terribly. She was 18, yet had a room fit for an 8 year old.

Placing her carefully under the quilts and tucking her in as best he could - though he didn't have all that much experience with it, so he imagined he'd probably just flung her down and stuffed the loose parts of the sheet into her sides tight like she was a doll.

As he turned to leave the room, he heard a faint murmur coming from underneath the quilts. "Daddy..."

He didn't know exactly how he knew that it was directed at him rather than the little girl reminiscing about her biological father, however he did. He smiled warmly at the girl, shutting the door quietly behind him as he whispered back, "Sleep well, Truce."

After that he let her have the day off school. It was a tiring night and, though she moaned at him for not letting her even start advertising for someone who might need a magician, he felt she deserved it. And she was appreciative, though she covered it well with whining.

He decided to bring up his worry from the previous night as they sat down together at breakfast, drinking a cup of tea each. He set aside his newspaper - Spark Brushel seemed to be milking his story for all it was worth, though the part about Drew Misham appeared to have completely been lost in all his journalistic publishings - and looked the girl in the eyes, refusing to let her avert hers away from his.

"Listen, Trucy, we have to talk." He spoke quite seriously, though he tried his best not to. He didn't want to make the poor child feel bad. "Have you been eating? Because I took you to bed last night, and you weighed almost nothing."

She smiled back at him, beaming though his face was anything but cheerful. "Sure! You know that guy, down on the streets that owns the noodle stand? You know, Noodle's Noodle's or something? Anyway, I get all my food from there. He serves it pretty salty, but he's always open for a chat!"

Guy Eldoon... He was sure Trucy was talking about him. He frowned, not sure exactly what to think of this; he didn't want his daughter associating herself with the washed-up Doctor-turned-noodle-stand-owner. But then, who was he to judge? He was a lawyer-turned-nothing. He didn't even have a job, not really.

They'd been living off nothing more than old savings. Trucy had some money in her bank, as did Phoenix, and they piled it together, though the total was barely enough to support one person for a month. He really hoped someone would show him a hidden talent of his already.

"I've seen his stand. Though the ratio of salt to noodles doesn't sound very healthy." He replied, nodding but trying not to press her too much on the matter. His old lawyer habits kept coming into play in the most awkward of times.

"Like I said, I go there mostly for someone to talk to."

"You can talk to me?" Phoenix offered. He wanted Trucy to feel like she had a Daddy to confide in. Though she meekly shook her head.

"I'm sorry, it's just you're drunk most of the time. If I talk to you about stuff you'll only spread it around when you're intoxicated." She smirked a little, though it wasn't 100% real. She desperately wished he'd give up the drinking. It was starting to bug her.

Though she had no idea this conversation was going to make her troubles all the more worse, as that day, Phoenix set off to go talk to Guy Eldoon.

He was outside, stand in tow, mumbling about how he gave up the fine doctor life for this, thanks to "That flashy Meraktis jerk". Approaching him carefully, he tapped him on the back with a polite smile on his face. His hair was stringy and blond - resembling all too well the noodles he sold.

"Hello there, I'm Phoenix Wright, from the agency across the street." He held out his hand for Guy to shake - etiquette Miles had taught him, though he felt his heart ache just thinking about him. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?"

The man wearing a strange red hat that looked oddly like one of his bowls upturned gave him a wary look. "Sure, but be quick. I haven't got all day."

"Have you talked to a little girl, about this high"-he held his hand up to around his waist-"wearing a red magicians costume? She's my daughter, and I really have to know what she's been telling you."

The peculiar male only shook his head, his expression apologetic. "No can do, sorry. I promised Trucy-doll I'd not share a word of it to anyone, "especially not her Daddy". Nice kid you've got there, though. She cares about ya."

He began to play a harmonica then, a solemn tune reaching Phoenix's eardrums. He smiled appreciatively at it's source, walking away without a word of goodbye. Did she really care about him? No, not possible. The man only wanted to cheer him up, or he was being sarcastic. Neither was all that appealing to Wright.

* * *

><p>When Phoenix finally got home, he was greeted by a panic-stricken little girl in red, rushing to him and tugging him into the living room. She was holding a can of meadow-fresh air freshener in one hand, duster in the other. The living room looked somewhat more tidy that before, however still not particularly clean.<p>

"Tidy up, now!" She ordered him. "The social workers are coming over in less than half an hour - they say they had an appointment with you!"

Phoenix thought back, and it quickly came to him. When he'd taken Trucy in, her social worker had told him that she'd be visiting once a month for the first year to check in on her. Was she really going to arrive almost bang-on a month later?

He began to clear away the empty bottles, but she sighed and snatched them off him. She was acting uncharacteristically bad-tempered today. "Hoover! I'm too small to do it."

He did as told, taking out the vacuum from the utility cupboard and trailing it into the living room. He plugged it in to the nearest socket, beginning to clear away the smashed fragments of green glass. The noise was rattling and spine-chilling, however he tried to ignore it as he continued to do his job, not wanting to upset Trucy. He'd never known she could be like this - but he had only known her a month. Or maybe it was last night's impression on her? Had he set a bad example on being temperamental? His worries filled his mind over and over as he tried to push them out.

The young magician had gone to chuck the glasses in the recycling bin and, just as the final piece of shattered glass was vacuumed up, she reappeared to spray down the whole room, including herself and Phoenix.

10 minutes later, the doorbell rang out. Trucy, seemingly back to her original bubbly self, pushed Phoenix gently towards the door. In the arch of it was a woman they both recognized as Sue Shall, Trucy's social worker. The woman gave them a soft smile, however neither was welcome to returning it. No one liked social workers, and this one seemed to be least of all likable. She had a way of talking down to others, treating them like children as though all were inferior to her. Even those who were older than her got treated like this - she was only 28, but had the attitude of a woman much further on in her life.

"Phoenix," She began in a light, yet stern voice, "If you don't mind, show me into the living room and we'll talk amongst ourselves about the matter at hand, hmm?"

He nodded, leading her in accordingly. He didn't want to annoy her - she was even more awful when someone procrastinated her in getting her points across. The two of them shuffled into the living room that had not so long ago been covered with chips of glass, and Trucy waited outside, hoping for the best.

* * *

><p>"Trucy," Sue called out around quarter of an hour later - though it had felt so much longer - poking her head around the door and smiling at Trucy. "Can I have a word with you alone for a second?"<p>

Trucy nodded feebly, nervous all of a sudden at the stern look in her eyes even though she was smiling. Phoenix made his way out of the room as the young magician and the tall young blond wearing blue-rimmed glasses sat down, looking each other silently.

Eventually, Sue spoke, after taking a sip from what appeared to be a flask full of coffee - Trucy could smell the bitterness on Sue's breath as she talked. "Now, Trucy, I want you to tell me the truth. Have you been trying to protect Mr Wright?"

The small girl shook her head violently, replying slightly too quickly. "No!"

Sue's lips curled, her eyes widened. "You aren't the first child in your situation to do this - with a guardian like Mr Wright, I mean - and you certainly won't be the last. So tell me the truth; are you hiding anything from me?"

Trucy could shake her head more confidently this time. Technically speaking, no one had asked her to tell them anything, so she couldn't be considered to have been hiding it, per se. She just never had the chance to share it.

Sue gave her a card with a few numbers on it. "If you won't tell me, then tell them."

It was a children's worry help-line, open 24/7. A surge of gratitude rushed through her, but she felt no desire to share it. Nevertheless, she still didn't like Sue at all.

But this could come in handy for next time. Having someone to talk to she might actually get along with would be useful, too...

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter mostly focuses on Trucy and Nick's relationship - Miles will be included a lot more further down the story, and he will become a main initially. Hope you enjoyed it, anyway~<strong>


	3. Mystery Man

3 Mystery Man

Trucy tried the hotline at her first opportunity. The phone rang; once, twice, pause, then another two times, one more pause... For a moment, she suspected no one to come and answer and that she'd merely been set up with a help-line that had been shut down. It didn't sound at all unlike that woman - the flashes of the blond Trucy refused to name's patronizing smile appeared in her mind as she desperately tried to block them out with thoughts of her old tricks. No matter how touchy the magician situation was inside, she refused to show it - she couldn't be afraid of her destiny.

She practically threw the phone down on her bed, huffing as she hung up and falling back onto her soft mattress. _What a horrible lady..._ She sighed, fixing her red top hat and pouting.

As she reached over to pick up the phone, her finger slipped and she ended up on the "recorded calls" menu. Curious as she saw all of them from the same number, she decided to click on the latest one.

"Not you again, Wright..." A posh-sounding voice spoke in an irritated tone. For a second, the little girl jumped - before realizing the voice was referring to her Daddy, not her. She'd gotten used to the name and now it was the thing she seemed to answer to the best.

"Listen, Edgeworth, let's talk this out." She heard her Daddy plead. What was this about? Was this Miles Edgeworth he was talking to, the mean jerk who made her Daddy cry?

"No!" The voice of the other man became less composed. He was practically shouting already. She heard a deep sigh come from his end of the phone line, and his voice returned to it's usual levels. "You... Betrayed me, when you threw your career away. Didn't you even bother to check up on evidence before presenting it?"

"Look who's talking!" Phoenix chortled, but it was cold and humorless; more of a mock, only he wasn't amused at all by it either. "What happened to the Miles Edgeworth that never stopped at anything to get his way in court? You've presented plenty of forged evidence and you got that dumb King of Prosecutor's trophy the other year, along with your badge!"

"That was long ago. My mentor paid for all my sins, and I was forgiven under the agreement it should never happen again. You, on the other hand, were foolish. Franziska would have whipped you if you'd dared to ever see her again."

"You sound just like her, Miles. You're a von Karma, alright."

"Shut up. That man deserves much more than an execution. They let him off easy with that one."

"So what, you think he needed to be tortured?"

"Don't fuck with me, Wright!" Trucy flinched at the curse, as the man's voice rose again. He sounded really annoyed. "If you found out the man you'd considered your Father killed your biological one, how would you react? What do you think he would deserve?"

"Well-" Phoenix began, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

"You think he'd deserve to be plummeted straight to the very depths of hell, away from everyone else! No, even that wouldn't suffice. I lived 15 years not knowing what really happened that day - always suspecting Yogi, when really it was von Karma all along. And I looked up to him!"

"Okay, Miles, calm down!"

"No!"

A dull beep sounded in the background as Miles hung up. Phoenix sighed. Once again he'd gotten on Miles' bad side. The beep was eventually cut off as Phoenix hung up himself, stopping the recording properly.

Trucy merely sat there, bewildered. Not only had she thought of Edgeworth as a jerk without good reason, she'd also been the reason why he was like that. She'd been the person - the final link - to get Phoenix disbarred. No matter who forged it, no matter the tall spectacled blond man who gave it to her... She'd given it straight on to him, not even thinking about the consequences.

She'd been stupid, case closed, sealed and shut just like the case surrounding her Grandpa would be for good.

_There's just one thing to do_, she thought to herself, sighing with dread as she phoned up Miles.

_Pick up... Please, please,_ please _pick up..._

* * *

><p>Wright.<p>

The name lit up on the phone screen instantly, synchronizing with the Steel Samurai theme tune that rang out throughout Edgeworth's office. Hadn't the man sunk it through his thick skull? He didn't want to talk it over with him again. But he couldn't exactly just let it ring, either. They'd been friends since 4th grade. Even if he had left not long after, he couldn't erase all the memories.

Sometimes he wished he could, however. Then he wouldn't have to deal with debating to himself whether or not to pick up the phone. If he'd just forgotten, at least, he'd be able to hang up without guilt. It wasn't like he'd have to see him ever again.

Though sometimes those memories were nice to look back on, too.

So he picked up the phone.

"Hello again, Wright." He greeted coldly.

The voice that replied was anything but expected.

"Is this Mr Edgeworth?"

The high-pitched voice of a little girl. It was easy to recognize the age - it wasn't hard to know who it would be, he'd dealt with little girls before, though he'd wished he hadn't had to. He still had the soiled cravat he'd never worn again after the... Incident with Kay Faraday.

"T-this is he... B-but you don't sound like Phoenix Wright." He stuttered, a little more nervous to be dealing with his daughter. If she knew he was avoiding him, what would she say?

"No, I'm Trucy Wright, his daughter." She spoke as if it wasn't at all anything odd. "I wanted to talk to you about my Daddy."

_ Oh God._ he rolled his eyes. He was just hoping, before, he'd been wrong to guess that she wanted to go over him again. Would he never fade from his life? It wouldn't be easy to get him from his heart, but from his mind might be a good place to start...

No. He didn't love Phoenix. He couldn't. He was everything Edgeworth had hated about himself. A liar, a cheat, and a fraud. He'd thrown all Miles' efforts to change back in his face. Trusting anything he'd been given as good evidence, especially decisive evidence.

There was a long pause, before Trucy finally spoke again. "You see, it was my fault he lost his badge, and you're not going to believe me but he cares about you so much. I can tell. The letter you wrote him... Well, it's pretty much impossible to read now. It's been tearstained into little more than a piece of paper covered in blotched ink. So please, please don't take it out on him. He needs you."

Miles processed what the girl was telling him slowly. Part of him wanted to lecture the girl about the seriousness of what she'd done; another part, however, didn't have the heart to do that to someone so young and naive. She seemed to be taking it hard enough as it was. He couldn't just make it even worse for her, could he? She wanted to fix the pieces she'd shattered so thoroughly back together. A mere accident, ready to be resolved and done with. Forgotten.

"How does tomorrow night sound?" He asked with a sigh.

"It sounds wonderful!" She cheered, a lot happier than she'd sounded before. Clearly this girl wasn't hard to please.

Miles couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"What's so funny, Mr Edgeworth?" She queried with a curious tone in her voice.

"It's... Nothing." He spoke between chortles, trying to get a word in through all of his laughter.

"Oh. Okay." She sounded disbelieving, however didn't inquire any further into the matter. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!"

With that, she hung up.

For a girl Wright had only looked after for just over a month, she sure seemed to care an awful lot about his happiness and well-being. It was truly honorable for a small child to care so much about a man who was basically a stranger she'd been thrown into the house of.

He was still not looking forward to the next night, though. He didn't think either man could bear it. For all the girl had in courage, she sure lacked it in common sense. She shouldn't have put so much effort into bringing two men - men such as they who were so awkward around each other - together.

* * *

><p>"You did what?" Phoenix shouted at the girl, dropping a plate he'd been drying off with a tea towel just next to his foot. He was wearing slippers, so the fragments that touched him didn't cut. The mess was still going to be murder to clear though.<p>

The girl skipped quickly to get the dustpan and brush, springing onto the pile of ceramic shards faster than lightning and beginning to sweep them up. He was sure glad he had Trucy here. He would have been too lazy to bother.

"I don't care what you say," She huffed, scraping the pieces into the bin and placing her hands on her hips. "He's coming here. You guys have known each other since forever. Just because you've had a..." - She tried to think of a reasonable way to rephrase the matter - "slight career change, doesn't mean you have to cut him off from your life. Please try and be nice to him! For me?"

Phoenix looked into the blue pools that were his daughter's eyes. When she put it like that, how could he refuse? She reminded him of Maya. Maya was always good at getting Nick to do what she wanted. This girl seemed to have the same trait.

"Fine..." He mumbled, turning from her and pouting. She giggled.

"You're such a little kid, Daddy!" She smiled, hugging him tight around the waist. For a moment it felt uncomfortable. But when he put his arms back around her... Well, it felt like he was truly supposed to be her father. Like it wasn't just Shadi's disappearance that got them stuck together. Like it was fate that she became his daughter.

"Says the 8 year old." He teased back.

For a man who always seemed to swing the other way, girls seemed to have a hold on him quite well. Even with Dahlia, it had felt as though he wasn't really in love, just being persuaded into believing he was. People were good at persuading him into things.


	4. The Visit

4 - The Visit

"Hey... There, Truce!" The familiar but so... Unfamiliar voice called out, followed by the slamming of the front door and a ton of hiccups. Trucy had been worried sick that evening, waiting for him to come back. He said he'd gone to find work - he had hoped to get something easy, and had headed over to the fairly quiet Russian restaurant not too far from their house.

She ran down the stairs, slapping him firmly - though of course it didn't hurt much, since she was only 8 and wasn't really hitting him all as hard as she could. "You're drunk again, Daddy! Mr Edgeworth's going to be here any minute, and you reek!" She wrinkled her nose up in disgust, with only slight exaggeration.

Phoenix only smiled at her, his eyes half closed and looking as though he could drop off at any moment. He had to hold on to the door for support. She rolled her eyes at him, not in the slightest bit amused.

She dragged him over to the stairs, trying her best to prop him up and move him at the same time. It was tough, and him being drunk wasn't exactly helping. Just as she'd got him up two steps, the doorbell sounded. She halted, frozen still, and Phoenix, apparently realizing this was what he was supposed to be preparing for, quickly crawled upstairs like a child running from a punishment.

Trucy sighed. She wasn't going to get any help it seemed. Not even a good introduction. She approached the door cautiously, a little scared of seeing him for the first time. She'd named him a jerk, not even having met him first, and even after their phone call she still hadn't completely forgiven him. Trucy accepted her half of the blame fully, but that didn't mean she'd let go of his.

Opening the door, she came face to face with the silver-haired man she'd heard described many times through stories. He was wearing a pink suit, accessorized with an ivory cravat and a black vest. He looked around the same age as her Daddy - Wright, not Enigmar - but he seemed to emit an aura of a more mature man. Even when he wasn't drunk, Phoenix was much more childish than Edgeworth seemed.

"Ah, you must be Trucy." He said in the same british accent she had heard through the phone line. He seemed like she'd imagined him, too - he didn't even crack a smile though he was talking to a child. Most adults did when they talked to Trucy.

She nodded, affirming his suspicions. "You're Mr Edgeworth, right?"

He nodded in return.

The silence that followed was unpleasantly quiet; still and dead.

He stayed in the doorway, not wanting to hazard coming in without an invitation. Even if he'd been asked there, he didn't want to intrude. Plus, he didn't feel all to welcome in Wright's eyes. He was sure Wright didn't want to see him as much as it was true vice versa.

"Hold on, just one second!" Trucy spoke suddenly after a moment, rushing up the stairs and leaving Miles stood in the doorway, half looking like he wasn't wanted at all. Maybe I'm not wanted, he thought to himself, exhaling with a slight ounce of irritation. No one wanted him there. So why did he bother?

Once he heard squabbling coming from upstairs his train of thought was drawn to a quick stop. He listened intently to what they were saying, trying to make out the conversation. What he heard sounded like two children fighting, not a father and a daughter.

"Wash your face! Oh, and drink this!" Trucy's high-pitched voice could be heard sharply from the upstairs room.

"I don't wanna see Edgey... He's mean." A stubborn, slurred version of the voice Edgeworth had heard shout "Objection!" across the courtroom at him spoke, more childish in tone than the girl's.

"I know, but... Please, Daddy? You need to see him, a lot more than you think you do."

Silence.

After a few moments - and a pressing urge for Miles to just slip out the door unnoticed while the two were quiet - footsteps could be heard again coming along the hallway and down the stairs. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow, taking in the disheveled look of his old friend.

He was in a plain-white t-shirt and baggy pajama shorts. His jaw was unshaven, rougher than it had ever been... _he's clearly not planning on getting back into the business_, Miles thought to himself, not without a smidgen of... disappointment in the man, rather than expected anger.

"Wright." He greeted, holding a hand out awkwardly. He tried his best to smile, however the grin that he did manage was merely a slight curl of the lips, looking filled with pity rather than joy.

"Edgeworth." Phoenix nodded in reply, taking the hand and shaking it, before pulling back a little too swiftly for comfort.

The dead silence crawled back in.

"Well..." Trucy began, trying her best to break the quiet atmosphere between the two men. "Do you want any tea, Mr Edgeworth? Or you, Daddy?"

"Oh, no, it's alright." Miles declined. "To be honest, I have... some paperwork to attend to, so I won't be staying long."

"Oh, work over old friends, huh, Miles? Just like you to drown yourself in your work when your friend's daughter wants you to help him!"

Miles' eyes widened with surprise. The outburst was fairly uncalled for - not that he did have any paperwork to get through, however given that Phoenix didn't know this... well, it was just plain rude!

"Wright, you're being childish-..." He began, before he was interrupted.

"You're being uptight!"

Trucy meekly stood there, not sure whether to intervene or let the men work things out by themselves. She couldn't figure out the most probable outcome for either, so she picked the latter to be safe.

Phoenix looked down at his slippers, his face going red with anger and possible embarrassment.

"Look..." Miles sighed, clearly not happy with the show of dejection from his "friend". "I'm sorry I can't be of help. However, if you want company, why don't you just ring Larry?"

"Didn't you know? He's with-..." Phoenix turned away with that, unwilling to finish the sentence. "Just... leave. I don't feel like explaining this to you."

Trucy gave Miles a half-smile as the other male left the scene, making his way back up the stairs and, from the sounds the springs of the mattress made, slumping onto his bed. Miles returned the smile apologetically.

After a few moments of silence and the sounds of sniffling coming from upstairs, Miles opened the door and left, yearning for the comfort of his own office - and perhaps finding some kind of work he could do.

This didn't go as planned at all.


	5. What Best Friends Are For

5 What Best Friends Are For

_"So you're... getting together...?"_

_"Sure, why the hell not? She's the only lady I've never dated, after all!"_

_"Oh gee, shut up, you know that's not the reason we're together!"_

_The two of them laugh. The third watches them awkwardly._

_The third wheel._

_That's all he ever was._

_All he is now._

_All he'll ever hope to be._

_Second-best to her._

_Joint_-s_econd-best - heck, maybe third-best - to him._

_Nothing._

_Nobody._

_Alone._

* * *

><p>A knock on the door.<p>

Light, almost silent footsteps down the stairs, echoing only very vaguely.

The creak of the door as it is opened.

A man in pink, stood before a small girl in red in the doorway.

"I came, as you asked." Miles Edgeworth said to the young Trucy Wright in what could be considered as the only greeting she was going to get from him.

"It's great to see you again, Uncle Miles!" She cheered, throwing her small arms around his waist. He stood dead-still as she embraced him, clearly not used to this sort of thing, and feeling a little awkward about it.

For one thing, he'd only ever met this girl once, having talked to her only once before then, yet she'd already established him as part of her broken family.

"Uncle?" He questioned, unable to hold back his curiosity as to why he would be considered as related to her after barely being acquainted with the girl.

She nodded, stepping away and smiling. "Yeah! You're my Daddy's best friend - pretty much a brother to him with the kind of arguing you do, too. It's pretty fitting, don't you think?"

He blinked at her, not understanding quite what had made her think him and Phoenix were so close. Sure, they had been best friends many years ago, but they'd formed some kind of strange rivalry between them over the past 3 years. They weren't really enemies, but... did they really seem like best friends? Miles had to say he never thought about his relationship with Phoenix much at all.

_Oh great, now I'm making us seem like I'm dating the man_, he thought to himself. Shaking off that notion, he gave Trucy as much of a smile as he could, not noticing the footsteps coming from the stairs.

"Looks what you did, Truce," A strange, almost-forced laughter emitted from the raspy vocal chords of the hung-over man on the stairs. "You broke the ice-cold heart of the demon prosecutor!"

"Shut it Wright, I've smiled before. It isn't such a big crime. We need no defense attorney to save the day." His comment would have sounded humorous had he let it, but Miles spoke instead in a monotonous voice, leaving it sounding cold and cruel.

"Always the life of the party, this one." Phoenix joked again, obviously trying to lighten the mood before the possible bombshell. "So what are you here for this time?"

"Your daughter said you were troubled by our last topic." Miles replied bluntly. "I have absolutely no idea what Larry did and am in no rush whatsoever to contact him, but Trucy thinks we should talk it over."

Phoenix knelt in front of Trucy, putting on the smallest fraction of a grin. "Now I know you really want me to be happy, I get it, and I'm sorry I've been a bad father. But you've got to stop bringing Edgey-... _Miles_ over to counsel me. Miss Shall is seeing to that. I've been ringing her a lot to ask for advice."

"More like she's seeing to having me taken away..." Trucy mumbled, just loud enough for Phoenix to hear. He dropped his head in a bow, sighing, unsure what to do next. He really wasn't very good at this at all.

"I don't see why you don't get Miss Fey to help," Miles interjected. "She was good with the little girl, no?"

"Are you honestly saying you don't know about them?"

"I'm not sure, what about them?"

Phoenix sighed again. The topic he'd tried to avoid had been raised yet again. "She ditched me, he ditched... whatever he was doing with his life..."

"Who are we actually talking ab-... Wait." Miles took a moment to think over his next question, then came out with it. "You don't mean...?"

"Who else could I mean?"

"Who's Miss Fey?" The curious magician asked, interrupting the two men. "Who do you mean, Daddy?"

Miles and Phoenix exchanged knowing glances, before turning to Trucy. This was the topic they'd been obviously trying to avoid; or, Wright at least had. Still, he took a deep breath and began, "Maya Fey is my late-mentor's little sister. She was my assistant, until... something happened. It's kind of personal really."

Trucy nodded in understanding, a little disappointed she couldn't be a part of their conversation anymore.

"Hey, Truce, why don't you get Mr Edgeworth a drink?" Phoenix suggested, giving her a small grin. She nodded a second time and entered the kitchen, still not having her thoughts shaken from what they could possibly be talking about. Whatever it was, it sure was making her curious.

Just as she was about to get the tea bags out from the cupboard, the sound of ringing interrupted her. Not wanting it to disturb the two men, she picked it up and answered in as grown-up a voice as she could muster.

"Hello?"

"Hello there, Trucy," replied the condescending, familiar voice that immediately made Trucy feel sick to her stomach with hatred. "Is your father in?"

Sue Shall. The woman who was trying to get her taken away from Phoenix. Trucy was sure whatever Sue was in need of Phoenix for, it wasn't going to be good. And she wasn't about to let yet another Daddy slip away and leave her so easily.

"Yeah, he is, but he's really busy with..." The young girl hesitated, trying to think up an alibi that would work in Phoenix's favor. Realizing the pause wasn't going to help, she quickly continued, "um, h-he's trying to find a new job!"

"Oh, is that so?" Disbelief leaked from her words. Trucy was sure whatever Sue Shall was thinking, it wasn't that she was being truthful. Still, she stood her ground.

"Yeah! I'm really proud of him, he sure is improving!"

"Well then, I don't see why he can't talk to me if he's getting along so well."

Loopholes. Everyone was always searching for loopholes. Especially social services.

"He doesn't want me to disturb him while he's filling out applications. Says he needs to gather his thoughts or he'll write something dumb and won't get a job."

She smirked to herself. Surely this one would be a flawless reason. Sue had to back off.

"Oh, of course, I completely understand!"

_Sure you do_. The 8 year-old rolled her eyes. Miss Shall was hardly going to believe such a terrible lie. Her voice sounded slightly as though her words were mocking Trucy, and it irritated her.

It irritated her a lot.

"Well, just tell him I called when he's not so busy, okay? Hopefully he'll find a job, too. Or else..." She paused. "Well, I think even you understand.

"Goodbye, Trucy Wright."

_Much as I'd like to tell him that_, she thought, smirking, _I have something more important to do._

After Miss Shall had hung up, she left the kettle to boil and took out a glass from one of the cabinets. Placing the top on the living room door like she'd seen people do in the movies, she listened to the conversation the two men were having from inside.

"Honestly, Wright, I always thought she'd end up with you." Mr Edgeworth was saying, sounding almost as disbelieving as Sue Shall but not without a hint of surprise.

"I-I don't like her like that!" Phoenix replied quickly, then hesitated and rethought over his words. "I-I mean, well, I didn't really see us getting together so much, but I didn't think she'd leave; and for Larry, of all people?"

Miles ignored the first thing Phoenix stuttered. "Well, if it's anything like Larry's other relationships, it shouldn't last too long, right?"

"That's the problem!" Her Daddy sounded exasperated by now. "It _is_ lasting, Miles! It's been months! How long were Larry's last relationships?"

There was an awkward pause, before Miles replied with "weeks, if anything."

"Exactly!

"All his previous girlfriends have only stayed with him for a few weeks, tops. But Maya? She doesn't seem to want to leave him! It's just not normal!"

"Have you ever considered that maybe she did leave him and not have the guts to tell you, so she just returned to Kurain?" Miles suggested.

Phoenix sighed then.

"If only there was that simple a conclusion. But Pearls would have been in contact, trying to set her up with me again. You remember how she was with that "special someone" shtick, don't you?"

There was a pause, though Trucy guessed it was just a verbal pause, like Miles was nodding or something.

She would have continued to listen out for more of the conversation, but the whistle of the kettle interrupted her and she quickly rushed over to it, grabbing two mugs from the same cabinet she took out the glass (without forgetting to return the glass) and dropping two tea-bags into each. She poured out the boiling water evenly, mixed the tea-bags around for a few moments and then took them out and dropped them into the bin, taking the mugs by the handles and carrying them into the living room. She gave them to the two men and left the room. Not wanting to risk being caught, she hurried upstairs to her room. Besides, she'd already heard enough to grab the basic concept of the talk; someone Daddy used to be assisted by (and perhaps liked, maybe mutually) left him to date one of his best friends, who was obviously a ladies' man and not very good with commitment.

So why was Phoenix so hasty to deny his love for her?

What was up with adults' lives anyway?


	6. Disaster

6 Disaster

From then on, Edgeworth began living with the Wrights; helping them out with bills, cooking for them (because Phoenix was terrible in the kitchen) and just keeping them company, in generally. It was nice, having someone there, for both of their sakes. Trucy didn't have to be the only one worrying for Phoenix, nor did Phoenix have to take care of Trucy on his own. Miles filled the role of "Mother" fairly well for them - though they knew one day he would have to go back to his real home.

He'd currently turned his home into a holiday house for people to stay at to bring in more income. Living in Los Angeles really made his home a fairly good house for people to vacation in, and he'd been careful to hide his lucky jacket away from prying or grubby fingers, just to be on the safe side.

It was strange, living with his old friend and his adoptive daughter. But Miles seemed to cope fine with it. It wasn't the ideal way to spend his time, looking after the two, but the kind smiles of gratitude and having company that didn't whip him constantly made him feel important. Like he wasn't completely worthless outside of the courtrooms.

He'd been feeling that way a lot, lately.

Trucy was feeling better, too. She went to school and focused more on her studies. She got better grades. Sure, maybe they were only in knowing her 12 times-tables off-by-heart, but it was nice to have the burden off her chest. It made Phoenix happier too, seeing his daughter come home without a story about how she'd been kept in during recess for zoning out.

For a while, things seemed to go really well for the Wrights.

But naturally, all good things come to an end at sometime. Not Edgeworth returning home, but rather an unexpected bombshell being dropped on the rather peculiar new family.

It was a cloudless Saturday afternoon when said bombshell arrived. The three were playing with a frisbee, out in Vitamin Square. Phoenix's unchanging Steel Samurai ringtone filled the air, so he left the other two to play while he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Dude! Nick! You've gotta help me!"

That all too familiar voice - no, shriek - down the phone sent Phoenix's stomach sinking as low as it could possibly go. He tried to keep his voice composed as he replied to the traumatic male on the other end of the line.

"What is it, Larry?"

"Well, Maya was... she was trying to channel Mia, I-I think... a-and... t-then..."

"Larry." Phoenix said sternly, sighing. "Calm down and just spit it out already. What happened to her?"

By now, Miles and Trucy had stopped playing. Trucy wasn't sure why, however the frilled man was intent on trying to hear why Larry could have called back. He mouthed something; a name Trucy had heard before but couldn't quite put her finger on. His eyes were filled with longing, desperation... sheer agony. Trucy wasn't sure whether to let him know what feelings she perceived from him. Should she stay quiet and act ignorant, or speak up and risk making the situation more awkward?

Not that Miles seemed particularly interested in the girl now. All he could focus on was that call. What exactly did Larry want?

Maya...

The name simultaneously ran through the two men's minds, different reactions to the one feeling of worry.

"She's just... gone...! I dunno what it is, it's like there's no spirit in her at all! That can't happen, right?!" Larry's voice became more distressed by the second - louder, too. "Can it, Nick? You spent more time in those stupid channeling villages that I did."

"I'll... I'll be over in a minute. Try finding Pearls, okay? She'll know what's best for Maya better than anyone."

"R-right! Thanks, man."

_Beep._

As soon as Larry had hung up, Phoenix dropped to his knees. Before Trucy could run over to console him, Miles had already beaten her, his long strides reaching the other male and clamping an awkward arm around his shoulders for comfort. It was obvious he wasn't very good at this sort of thing; it made Trucy almost laugh at the silliness of it all, but she knew better than to as her father bawled into the frills of Edgeworth's cravat.

She picked up the frisby and stalked over to the other two, trying her best to look as mournful as they did. She patted Phoenix's back lightly, as the man looked up at her, tears streaming down his gaunt cheeks. He cracked a smile at her, though she didn't need to perceive the quiver on his bottom lip to know that it wasn't legitimate. The sight of him in the other man's arms, though... it looked so natural. Like he was supposed to fit there. Before she'd met Mr Edgeworth, she'd never imagined having a man for a Mommy, but the past few weeks spent as a family really changed her insight on the matter.

She just hoped whoever this Maya person was, she wasn't going to tear her family apart.

* * *

><p>After safely preparing Phoenix and removing any signs of crying, the three headed over to the Fey-Butz household. It wasn't anything particularly fancy - not nearly as nice as Edgeworth's mansion - though it was in itself a mansion compared to the Wright's office home.<p>

Phoenix held up his fist to knock on the shiny black door, but he kept looking down and shaking his head when his hand started to shake with nerves. Miles lightly took it in his and gave him as good a reassuring smile as he could muster, using his other hand to knock on the door.

But even after that the two hands didn't part.

Trucy noticed this and smirked a little to herself. Seeing a real love story unfold before her was definitely worth the lack of cable at home!

When someone finally came to answer the door, it was a dewey-eyed man dressed in an orange suit with a small beard and light, messy brown hair. His face was pale. The two men, having known Larry Butz longer than anyone else on the planet, had never seen him so upset. He cried a lot, but he was never so... melancholy. It was a jaw-dropping sight.

"Oh, E-edgey, didn't know you were coming!" He tried to give a surprised smile, but it came out all jittery and over-exaggerated. His surprise was definitely valid when he looked down, however, seeing the two hands clasped. "I didn't know you guys were a couple! Why didn't ya tell me? We could've double-dated!"

The men both flushed bright red, Phoenix matching his tie and Miles matching his suit. They drew their hands quickly away from one anothers, looking awkward. "Oh, uh, w-we're not..."

Larry didn't seem to be paying attention to the men, though, instead looking down at Trucy. "And who's this little cutie?"

"My daughter." Phoenix answered quickly, just as fast adding, "A-adopted daughter."

Again, completely away from any conversation, Larry picked Trucy up and spun her around. "Hi there! I'm your Uncle Larry!"

Trucy just glared at him, pouting angrily. "Well, Uncle Larry. Did you forget why you called me, Daddy and Mommy out here?"

"Oh, uh, right..." His face sank back to ashen, the gleam in his eyes clouding over as he put down the magician and led the three visitors through to the bedroom, where a strangely-dressed girl with jet-black hair was laid, eyes wide open as if possessed; mouth slightly ajar; completely motionless, but not dead. Sat beside her, brushing through her long hair with dainty fingers, was a girl not much older than Trucy.

"Figure out anything, Pearls?" Phoenix started. The girl looked up. He expected a slap or a wide smile, anything that was natural for Pearl, however he just got a blank stare.

"Mr Nick..." She shook her head slowly, as if she was apathetic, though they all knew different. "No, nothing. I can't figure out what's happened. It's like, she's not breathing, but there's a pulse."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?! Are you sure?!" Phoenix shouted at the girl. She sprung back ever so slightly, dumbstruck.

"Wright, don't, you're asking too much of her." Miles almost begged from behind him, restraining him, but then only just.

"No, actually, I think I know something. I read about it in one of the books Mother gave me, i-in Kurain." She gulped, unsure of how to tell them.

"Well, what is it?" Larry asked, the glistening in his eyes returning. "Tell us!"

"You're not going to like it, Mr Larry, but... she's passed on."

The entire room fell dead-silent, vacillating about how to react.

"She's caught between death and life. It happens sometimes, when a spirit leaves a channeler's body. Sometimes it drags their spirit with it. The channeler hasn't died yet, so they can't pass completely, so they get stuck somewhere that's not quite life but then, not quite death either."

"And that's where my Maya is...?" Larry asked all-too-hopefully.

Pearl nodded as slowly as she had shaken her head. "But, Mr Larry, don't get too happy. Not many people know how to return her from there."  
>"But there are people?"<p>

"Yes, but-"

He cut her off. "Then we can save her! Come on guys, let's go find one of these channel-y guys to help us!"

That was the one thing about Larry. If there was a slight possibility of something happening, he was sure it was 100% certain to come true. The others had no choice but to tag along.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you guys enjoyed this recent chapter! I haven't been able to update recently due to not having a laptop charger, but now I can so I've managed to write this chapter. Please tell me what you think of it! Every review means a lot, and don't be afraid to point out any creative criticisms you may have. c:<br>**


	7. Training Wheels

7 Training Wheels

**I'm not really happy with this chapter... but, it works for progressing the story. Enjoy.~**

* * *

><p>"You're a pain in the ass, Larry, do you know that?" Miles growled over to the orange-suited man behind him. Because, you see, this idiot had somehow managed to convince Miles that it was a good idea for them to go out searching for one of the people that might be able to help Maya in Miles' red convertible Mustang. Larry had searched online for someone that could help them before Pearl, who had successfully managed to learn the word "computer" through her visits to her cousin's house, gave Miles a business card and explained to Larry that, like Kurain, it was rare to find a channeling village that actually had access to the internet.<p>

It was, however a four-seater, so whilst she had done most of the work in finding where they were to go, Pearl had stayed at home with a reluctant Franziska, ever the sucker for little girls, making sure that Maya stayed alive for the duration of their absence. Once again Larry had forced Miles into doing more work as he'd had to ring Franziska, be shouted at and have to put up with hearing the cracking of a whip from the other line - which brought back memories of the pain of being hit by it - before quickly handing the cell over to Pearl to beg the over-proud von Karma to babysit for her.

So now the four who had come along were sat in the car whilst Miles, who had been unfortunate enough to be the only one of them with possession of a car, had to chauffeur the other three to San Francisco, where the channeling village they were looking for was located, via the I-5. The satellite navigator in Miles' car had estimated the drive to take just over 6 hours.

This was going to be a long, long day.

Phoenix, who was sat in the passenger's seat, patted Miles lightly on the shoulder. "Keep calm, Miles. You can do this. It's for a good cause."

"Yeah, Mommy!" Cried Trucy - who had now decided to make it official and actually address Miles by this name - from the back, fist-pumping the air energetically. "For Aunt Maya!"

"You go, Edgey!" Larry pitched in, also fist-pumping and apparently forgetting about his sorrows for the moment. Again, this was so like Larry.

"Will you just bloody shut up, Larry?" Miles snarled through gritted teeth, while Phoenix once again attempted to calm him down.

"You didn't tell Trucy to shut up!" Larry protested, clearly offended. "Come on, Edgey, why are you such a buzz-kill all the time? Loosen up a bit!"

This comment made Phoenix snap, like a twig being bent to it's limit.

"Larry, it may have skipped your mind with all this "fun" you've been having as of the past few hours, but may I remind you we're on our way to save the butt of your girlfriend while her spirit is lost in God-knows-where? Because you seem to have forgotten the most important thing about this little "trip"." He roared, gnashing his teeth in anger. "It's a wonder Maya even dated you in the first place. You're just plain insensitive."

A horrified Larry sat looking dazed and hurt at the other man. "So I'm not allowed to try and make the most out of the next 4 hours in the car with you guys, huh, Nick?"

"No, Larry, no you are _not_." Phoenix stated firmly, signalling that there were to be no more replies to the argument.

The car fell silent after that. Not a single word was spoken until they reached San Francisco. The rest of the ride there was in complete and utter silence, bar the car engine growling and the occasional yawn from the young magician in the back. Sat looking sleepier than ever but not able to fall asleep, Trucy rested her head on the window and stared out of it. Boredom clasped her in both hands. Much as she knew it was to help Maya, this ride could still have been so much more fun.

Once Edgeworth could pull over nearby the house, each passenger got themselves out to stare in awe at the peculiar house before them. It was an old-fashioned terraced house, with originally-bright red bricks that time and the weather had worn away at. The door was huge, about the size of all 3 men width-ways and about Phoenix and Trucy's heights added together. The door knocker was made into the shape of a hawk's head, much like the lion ones that were more common. Phoenix grasped it and knocked with it thrice.

_ Rapraprap._

They waited. And waited. And waited. Miles began to head away, but paused when he realized no one was following. Instead, Larry and Trucy were staring between the two men, wondering which to go with. A tear glistened on Phoenix's cheek, but he refused to make any sound of sorrow. He stood there firmly, his back turned from Miles, until the other sighed.  
>"There's no point. No one's in."<p>

"You don't know that. We've not been here very long." Phoenix snapped, his voice wobbling with nerves as he spoke.  
>"We've been here long enough. We'll come back another—"<p>

"_No_!"

Phoenix had turned to face Miles, his cheeks bright red with anger, his eyes bloodshot the same shade. He moved closer to him, grabbing him by the cravat and putting his face so close to the other's that Miles could feel himself being spat on as Phoenix spoke.  
>"Why are you so selfish?! Why can't you see that we need to solve this problem as quickly as possible?" He rasped, his voice stronger but still not entirely so. "What if Maya passes? She's one of my best friends! She's <em>Larry's<em> wife, whether the hell he deserves her or not."

A fist connected with Miles' cheek before he could even reply. His face turned to the side, disarrayed hair covering most of his face. Seeing how hurt the other man was, Phoenix let go of his grip on him. He fixed his blazer and hair back into place, before turning away.

"You keep defending her all the time and fighting your real best friends because of her. The ones who didn't run off and desert you in court. The ones who've always been here for you. Clearly you want something more from Miss Fey than just friendship." He retorted, his own words sounding wounded. "I'll wait in the car."

Trucy watched as her honorary mother walked away from them. She could sense he was crying, at least inside, but she wanted to know why. It troubled her a lot, seeing her parents argue. Just as cold as they were to each other when she first met Miles. She wasn't really all that bothered about meeting this spirit medium anyway.

"I'll keep Mommy company." She stated - more to herself as Larry and her Daddy seemed to be off in other places. She skipped off back to the Mustang to try and lighten the mood, whilst Phoenix and Larry waited for the medium to show.

A few minutes passed before she appeared. The two men had been expecting an older lady, at least Morgan Fey's age; instead they were greeted by a young brunette, probably not much older than Maya. Swaying right across her back to the bottom of her waist was a head of long, wavy hair. She was clothed in a long fluffy red dressing gown, over what seemed to be regular pyjamas. Her eyes glistened, appearing to look in a completely different direction to where the men were standing, and she carried a stick.

"Hello?" The woman asked, looking from side to side as if trying to see them, though somehow Phoenix guessed that wasn't her intent.

"Um, hello." He started. The woman instantly looked down, a warm smile spreading across her snow-white face. "I'm Phoenix Wright. I'm with my friend, Larry Butz. We were wondering if you could maybe help us with something?"  
>"Ah... Yes. Good evening. Sorry to have you wait so long, I was in the bath. Took me forever to get out!" She laughed gently at herself. "Come on in."<br>The two men had been expecting an old blind hag – something like Wendy Oldbag – to live in a house like this. They certainly didn't expect to be met by a young, blind girl. She stood out in the bleak house; with both the way she looked and talked.

"Take a seat, please." She gestured at them both, using her stick to find a seat for herself and adjusting her sitting position to be the most comfortable. "I'm Mystic Phoebe. Excuse any weird things you see, this place was my grandma's originally and, well, I'm blind so there's not much point redecorating." She chuckled, picking an already-poured cup of tea up from the coffee table and sipping it. Her hand moved around a lot, searching for what she needed to pick up, but she seemed to keep things tidy to avoid confusion. Phoenix guessed she had someone do this for her. "So what brings you here?"

"His wife." Phoenix answered, almost instantaneously. His face went red when he realized how quick he'd been and he started to hesitate. "W-w-well, you see... she's a medium as well. Her little cousin, Pearls, told us apparently she'd, um... "Passed on"? And that you might be able to help us?"

Phoebe's face turned solemn as she frowned, looking down at her lap although technically she couldn't. "Ah... I see. Caught between life and death. This is a tricky procedure. Mr Butz."

If she'd had vision, she'd probably have turned to look at Larry, however she did not. Still, Larry replied with a simple "Yes?" Her gaze followed the sound, so even though she couldn't see him she looked as though she could.  
>"Since this is your wife, I'm leaving the choice in your hands. Would you like to go through with this or not?"<p>

After a moment passed, Larry nodded. "Yes. I would."

The blind woman bit her lip nervously, nodding along. Finally she spoke again.

"Very well. I assume you can take me back there?"


	8. Walking On Broken Glass

8 Walking On Broken Glass

**I'm once again very sorry for the huge gap in updates. I'd like to have an excuse, but mostly I've just been distracted by my new Xbox (Catherine and Fable II/III are really addicting!). Thank you to those who are planning on sticking with me despite that, I'm going to try my best to make updates quicker.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>For Trucy, the tension of the car ride back home was unbearable. As the Mustang was only a four-seater, she had ended up on Larry's lap – which Miles had objected to on behalf of it being illegal, although (reluctantly) agreed in the end. This didn't at all help the situation, as now he had another thing to be uptight about. Phoebe seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere in the air as well, as she kept grimacing. They drove for two hours, and eventually pulled over at an old motel to let Miles sleep; he wasn't likely to let anyone else drive his car, after all.<p>

Whilst there, Phoenix took it upon himself to check his cell phone. He'd turned it off after they'd gone to Maya and Larry's house, as he felt it would only disturb everyone else if someone had rung. Two missed calls, and a message on the answering machine. His stomach somersaulted sickeningly at the name. "Sue Shall". She was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. He couldn't avoid her, though – in the end that would only cause trouble for him and Trucy. Especially Trucy. He checked the voicemail, tapping his fingers impatiently as he waited for the message to begin playing.

"Hello, Mr Wright. It's just me, Miss Shall. I was meaning to visit, but I realized you were away – of course I thought I asked you to inform me if you ever took Trucy on vacation but obviously I didn't enforce that well enough." The taste of bile built up in Nick's mouth as this sarcastic comment hit his ears. He would need a very good excuse for this one. Something this woman would believe. "Anyway, please get back to me as soon as you can telling me when you get home. It's been a while since I last visited so I thought Trucy might need a check-up of some sort."  
>He really wasn't ready to call her back now, but procrastinating wouldn't exactly help. He clicked on the options menu button, eventually clicking again to ring her. His mouth became drier and drier with each ring, dreading the conversation.<p>

Eventually, he heard the sound of the phone being picked up, and the familiarly stern voice. "Mr Wright?"

"Yes... uh... Miss Shall? Sorry for not telling you, me and Truce went out to visit an old friend of mine and I guess reminiscing got the best of me. We'll be back late tomorrow evening, if that's alright?"

His speaking pace was fast, as though trying to get as much in without her interrupting him. She was one of those people who wouldn't hesitate to interrupt any sentence. Strangely, however, there was a short yet surprising pause before the woman on the other line replied.

"I suppose that is acceptable. If I had not decided to visit you today I probably wouldn't have noticed, after all. Please don't keep her out too long, though. You and I both know the circumstances in which you were given custody over her. The instant an available relative appears, you will lose her. Quite frankly, had there been another person Mr Enigmar had stated he trusted, I wouldn't have left her even in your care."

The words pierced him, causing his mind to sting like the hypochondriac he could be. He knew he wasn't fit to be a father. Sue had shown little confidence in anything he might be able to do. It was clear she had no trust in him, and was prepared – no, hoping to have the chance – to take her away from him at a moment's notice. He was sure he would hate that. She was his little star, his beacon of light when everyone else he knew seemed to turn into the darkness. She was more like his parent than he was hers, but they still got by.

"I... I know. I understand."

"Good." She appeared to "hmph", before ending with, "I will visit in 3 days time. Until then, goodbye, Mr Phoenix Wright."

Phoenix could breathe a huge sigh of relief as she hung up. Thank God the conversation had only been short. He wasn't sure how much more of that aggravating women he could stand. She had a way of stepping on his last nerve by merely the tone of her voice. He mentally prayed for the sorry state of a man who may fall in love with her.

"Who was that, Nick?!" Larry almost shrieked. "That wasn't Pearls or Franzy was it? It wasn't right? C'mon man, Maya's alright, ain't she?"

Miles, unnoticed by the others in the car, glared at the orange-suited man from his rear-view mirror.

Phoenix simply replied in a loud whisper, "It was something that doesn't concern you. Jeez, calm down, you'll wake Truce."

The little magician had fallen asleep on Larry's lap. She was in a regular sitting position, just with her eyes closed. This sleeping position didn't look particularly comfortable, but then, sitting in a car for this long usually wasn't; least of all whilst sitting on someone else. The rest of the passengers acknowledged the sleeping girl and returned to their previous silence.

Back at the Fey-Butz household, Pearl and Franziska weren't much more talkative than the group in the car. The young girl could do nothing but stare at her cousin, eyes that were once so full of childish joy and ignorance now so melancholic. Franziska felt helpless beside her; she could do nothing to help the girl. The poor condition of the woman laid stone-cold on the floor wasn't something Franziska could fix with the crack of her whip or the yell of "objection" across the room. The von Karmas were never the type to comfort people, so she wasn't even sure how she could do that. Nothing Franziska could do would be any use to Pearl or Maya now. All she could do was cross her long, simply-manicured fingers and hope that the others would be able to solve the problem of Maya's status. Not even providing a distraction would be suitable. Pearl had to make sure Maya stayed alive, after all. If something happened whilst Franziska was distracting her... well, the prosecutor wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive herself.

The sounds of the key turning in the front door were a relief to hear. Franziska stood up and walked maybe a little too hurriedly to the front door. She didn't exactly smile at the group who entered – Nick carrying the sleeping girl - however she knew it wasn't the time to call them all fools. She gestured them into the living room, noting the blonde carrying a stick and seeming to prod at everything surrounding her as the spirit medium who could help Maya.

The blue-haired woman led the blind woman to Maya. "Bend down." She half-commanded. "The girl who needs your help is here." Franziska kindly guided Phoebe's hand to touch Maya's dead-frozen face.

Phoebe scrunched her own face up in concentration, mumbling to herself about Maya's current condition.

"You _can _save her, can't you, lady?" Pearl asked, both looking and sounding hopeful.

"Possibly." Phoebe replied, not wanting to build the little girl's hopes up any more than the obviously were. "But there are risks. And it won't be easy. I'll also need to be in a private room. It is a very technical process that requires total concentration. If it backfires, it could injure any number of surrounding people."

Pearl seemed truly amazed at how educated Phoebe was on the matter, obviously missing the point she was trying so hard to get across about the difficulty of this. Of course, Phoebe could not see her wide eyes glowing with awe, and so could only hope that she was understood.

Within minutes everyone had left the living room, including the reluctant Pearl. No one spoke for the duration of the process. The atmosphere was as though everyone's vocal chords had been ripped out and no one even wanted to test their loss. There was nothing anyone could say. Comfort Larry? No, he was much too optimistic in his current state to understand that there was a huge risk his wife might die. Comfort Pearl? No one was up for building the hopes of a little girl. If only Trucy had been awake, she might have been able to distract Pearl... but there was no use. Whatever happened next would be inevitable. It was up to fate whether or not Maya was to live.


	9. The Power Of Memory

**Trigger warning before I continue - depression. I don't know if disorders are anyone's trigger but it's always nice to check. c: And with that, here's another chapter.~**

9 The Power Of Memory  
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><p>The hour that passed next felt like a month was going by with each tick of the clock. About halfway through this, however, Pearl approached Trucy and whispered to her, "what's it like to have to lose one of your relatives to heaven?"<p>

Pearl had known the story about Phoenix's last case. Maya had told her, to which she had replied something along the lines of "silly Mr. Nick! He can't lose his job!" Maya had told her about Trucy too. She had told her to be sensitive and not bring it up too much, but Pearl simply couldn't resist this time. She knew what it was like to lose Morgan, but it wasn't like she'd ever really had anyone close to her die besides Mia, and given the age difference and how they lived so far away from each other they weren't the closest of cousins.

"It's like a little part of you just all of a sudden disappears and you realize you'll never be able to hear their voice or listen to them read you bedtime stories or feel their lips kiss your head goodnight ever again and you keep thinking about stuff you wish you could have said to them before they died but nothing ever seems to fit and you know they'll never hear it anyway but you still put in a ton of effort hoping they'll be looking down on you from the sky and just somehow know," Trucy replied, waffling a little and then quickly shutting her mouth. "Sorry. I'm not helping. It's... not so bad...?"

Pearl forced an optimistic smile. "It's fine. It's not like I expected a happy story."

That was the only conversation anyone made in the time it took for Phoebe to finish up. Trucy returned the smile and gently clutched the other girl's hand. That was all she felt she could do.

When the door to the living room finally opened, everyone's heads all seemed to turn to look in unison. Phoebe's face was sullen, and when she was the only one exiting Phoenix gulped, preparing himself for the worst, as Larry's eyes immediately teared up.

"My Maya's okay, right? You just left her there 'cause she's sleeping, right?!"

Phoebe tapped her guiding stick in deep thought. "Well, it's not the worst case scenario, but it's not exactly the best either. I don't think introducing her to you all would be a good idea right at this time, but-"

Phoenix cut her off, an eyebrow raised. "Wait, introduce?"

"I was getting to that." She paused, trying to pick the right words to say. "As I said, there is always a risk when performing this. It's a sort of... mystic mind operation, if you will. Sometimes when people pass... they tend to return as not quite themselves."

"What, so you mean her personality has changed?" Phoenix guessed, not really grasping the point Phoebe was trying to make.

"Perhaps I should have phrased that differently... She's herself, barely. Her personality isn't one uncommon to her in general, but rather uncommon to her at this age. She's suffering from memory loss. She can only remember things from the age of thirteen years old."

It took everyone in the room a few moments to understand what this meant. All of them would be nothing more than complete strangers to her now - not even Pearl would be recognizable. Phoenix doubted her attitude would have changed that much as she acted like a kid before, but now she wouldn't even remember who he was. The three years they had been friends... none of that mattered anymore. They would be better off erased from Phoenix's mind too. He didn't want to live his life knowing one of his best friends didn't even remember him; all those memories would be useless if they couldn't be shared. It made his stomach turn unpleasantly just thinking about it.

Larry knew the connotations of Phoebe's explanation as well. He couldn't be married to someone who didn't even remember him. It would be too uncomfortable, and awkward, and explaining that she was his wife would make him feel as though he was deceiving her. Of course he wasn't, but it still hurt to know she would always be a little suspicious. He knew she could never love him the same. He would have to repeat everything again... the entirety of their relationship just repeated? Could he do that? Could she? Would a girl who only remembered the first thirteen years of her life even want to try?

"I'll let you all come in one-by-one once she's ready. I'm letting her rest for now, but I've managed to inform her as much as I know and talk her through what she knows herself." Phoebe told them.

"What's the point?" Nick blurted out. He didn't mean to; it was originally just meant to be a comment in his mind. But his mouth opened and he couldn't hold it back. "What's the fucking point?"

"Wright!" Miles scolded, folding his arms and glaring at him. "You're in the presence of children!"

"Yeah well, frankly Miles, I couldn't give a damn. I'd rather have her forget me than force myself back into her life when I haven't even been bothered to keep in contact with her in the first place..."

No one said anything else. Miles looked down at his shoes, retreating from a potential argument. No one wanted to challenge Nick on his viewpoint. No one had any argument to throw back. Even Larry wouldn't be able to easily insert himself into her life again... what hope did anyone else have?

"C'mon, Truce, we're leaving." Phoenix announced, taking the girl's left hand in his right and heading towards the door, calling behind him but not looking back, "We'll catch a train if you're not coming, Miles."

Miles hesitated for a moment, but eventually sighed and followed along, like a puppy afraid of being disowned by his master. He rummaged through his pockets for the Mustang keys as Phoenix walked out the door.

"Sorry for the trouble we caused you all." Miles said, bowing his head apologetically.

"I wish you all the best."

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><p>And so the months past yet again. The season changed, as did the trees. Yet as they blossomed, the lives of the three who's paths crossed in such unexpected ways seemed to grow only colder in comparison. The car journey should have been full of anger, or tension, or something a little more than how it had been... empty; cold; void of all emotion. As if they had all lost the will to act as though they were related. To play house as the most unlikely family of all. Everything seemed to stop.<p>

The local park was filled with children, as per usual, cycling around or swinging or riding the seesaw. If it had not been for the frigid winter engulfing the three, they would have no doubt been enjoying the sunny days of springtime. Yet they couldn't. Not even Sue Shall could motivate them to be happy - the awful social worker tried her best in threatening Nick and Miles that, if Trucy didn't seem to be getting happier, she would have to take into care. Someone else's, at least.

Through all the things the two men had gone through, all the situations and scenarios they had to live through, Trucy was by far the most affected of all three.

The realization came that May. She was nine years old now - the year had past by so fast. It wasn't a realization from Phoenix or Miles that she may be suffering, but rather her own personal realization. Of course, there had been signs before then - a constant and gradual loss of motivation and emotion, her gradual growth of loving the indoors, her irregular sleeping patterns being frequently disturbed or lack thereof on the days she slept in too long. The pit of her stomach felt like an immense ton weighing her down, despite the fact she was still a little underweight. Her self-esteem seemed to plummet down to almost non-existant and she was constantly being remarked on by her teacher on the days she did turn up. Phoenix did his best to make excuses, but he knew the way everyone was judging him. Yet he had no hand in what was happening to Trucy at this point.

The final realization was finding a photo of Zak Gramarye in her drawer. For a moment, she blinked, unsure of who it was... the uncertainty lasted only a moment and could have easily been excused by the way she had been acting. However, she couldn't believe herself. She'd been unable to immediately recognize her biological father. She was going to forget everything. When he did come back, that would be her, a small blinking child staring up at him in awe. He would be nothing to her. Her throat suddenly clogged up like an uncleaned sink pipe. She fell to the floor on her bottom and broke down. Her sobs were shrill and loud, even though she'd mastered crying in silence. She didn't want to hold it in anymore. The amount of times she had made the sounds seem unnatural and caused her throat to vibrate in pain, but she refused to hold it back. She didn't deserve the salvation. She'd forgotten her own father, or at least in her mind she had. She was nothing but a failure to herself and family.

Upon hearing the sobs a loud clanging arose from the stairway and rushed into Trucy's room. Phoenix rushed in, the greasy spikes of his unwashed hair shining in the light, and took Trucy in his arms. He sat down where she had been sat, crossing his legs and sitting her on his lap facing the same way he was. "Sh... it's okay. I'm here." He comforted her, hissing soft "sh" sounds in her ear and stroking her hair. He'd never been great with children at all (in fact this way of comforting seemed to come of as though he was petting a puppy) however in moments she was silent. Once her sniffling had cleared up, he asked her, "What's the matter, Truce?"

Silence.

He let her take her time, continuing to play with her short brunette locks until she finally managed to muster up a reply. "I... I forgot Daddy... I-I found Daddy Enigmar's photo in my drawer... a-and I didn't recognize him... I'm a failure!" She exclaimed the last part and curled up into as much of a ball as she could, burying her face in her arms. Her sobs returned, sharper than before.

"Hey, hey... you're not a failure. You're just... going through a rough time is all. We all are."

"But it's not normal! I've never felt this awful! I don't even want to breathe but if I stop I feel worse..." She tried to explain herself, her descriptions not linking together - trains of thought splayed out across random tracks arranged on a two-year-old's railway set.

"Would it make you feel better if I booked you in for therapy?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Why not?"

"Can't talk to people like her."

From the tone of the last word, Phoenix knew exactly who she meant. Sue Shall, of course. It was no wonder Trucy couldn't trust a therapist. But he had to help somehow.

"At least try it out. Not every adult is like Miss Shall."

Trucy pouted in refusal, but Phoenix wasn't prepared to back down.

"If you at least try it out I'll buy you some pudding as a reward..."

The widening of Trucy's young blue eyes made Phoenix smirk. He'd definitely played his bribery card right there.


	10. Give Me Therapy

10 Give Me Therapy

**Oh gosh, sorry, I've not updated this in so long! But here you go, chapter 10 uwu;; Thank you so much all of you for sticking with me.**

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><p>Green walls made Trucy feel nauseous.<p>

The therapist's office was basically a hospital ward claiming to be less intimidating. It reminded her of when she'd been to see her Grandpa Magnifi in hospital. Even the room wanted her to remember, it seemed.

Next to her, her father and Miles sat, trying to describe to the wrinkled brunette in the armchair what they felt Trucy had been going through.

Phoenix took the lead, naturally - he knew more of Trucy's position than Miles, who had only had the story explained vaguely to him.

"Trucy's had a very rough time, I think, this past year," He began, glancing over at the little girl in case she looked like she wanted to input something. She didn't. "She's lost too many people in her life for her young age, and I think that's really affected her a lot. I don't think she's been eating as well as she should, and I understand that a lot of her issues might originate from my own financial problems, but Miles and I are trying to get through that. I just want to see Truce doing the same with her own problems."

The therapist nodded along, but Trucy wondered if she really listened that well, or if she ever got bored and zoned out sometimes. She had to listen to so many people's stories and try to help them. It seemed like a lot of pressure, helping others.

Like Trucy had to the therapist, the latter drew her attention to the former. "Who have you lost, dear?"

Trucy found the term 'dear' to be very patronising, but didn't point this out as she replied, "My Mommy - not Mommy Miles, my other Mommy - died a while ago, and then my Grandpa Magnifi was apparently murdered this year, and my Daddy - not Daddy Phoenix, my other Daddy - was the suspect. So my Daddy Phoenix had to defend him, but that didn't work out, so my Daddy Zak disappeared and left me with Daddy Phoenix. It's not been that many losses."

Trucy added the last bit on like it was nothing, but deep-down she knew it was only there for the purpose of convincing herself.

Surely all girls her age had gone through similar things; Pearl had no father, either, or a mother, at least as far as Trucy knew. And she'd just lost her cousin, her second cousin in fact. Pearl had been through just as many losses as Trucy had. Three couldn't possibly be too many then, could it?

Although, if it wasn't, why did Trucy feel like it was the worst thing in the world?

She didn't ever like to think about her old Mommy. It made her sad, especially because there wasn't much to remember. She could barely remember the sweet, floral smell of her mother's favourite perfume. She couldn't even remember the voice that used to read so many bedtime stories to her.

No, that wasn't right... she hadn't read that many, at all. Neither had her Daddy Zak. They were always on tours, and she'd always be sleeping in tour-buses, and switching schools countless times, and failing because she missed so much as a result...

No, she was much better off now, even with awful Miss Shall and her wish to take Trucy out of Phoenix's custody.

Thinking like that only served to make Trucy feel even worse, and also very faint and nauseous. It was an awful thing to think, that her biological family were never there for her. She was sure that was an exaggeration, anyway. It couldn't possibly be completely truthful.

Even as these thoughts floated around her dull-coloured mind, Trucy couldn't bring herself to speak up about any of them. It wouldn't make her feel better if people knew that she didn't remember any of the positives about her old family. It would probably only make them think she was weird, or cause them to ignorantly label her a 'victim of circumstance'. Trucy didn't particularly want her newfound family to do that either.

"And how do you feel about that?" The therapist asked, bringing Trucy back to Earth yet again.

"It sucked at first," Trucy said, sighing. She wasn't good with articulating her feelings in that kind of beautiful manner you see in movies. "But I think I like it here. It's just…"

She dragged out her sentence, halting at a slow pace. Trucy didn't want to go into much else.

But the therapist had seen the revealing of a weak spot and continued to push her way through the barrier Trucy was trying so hard to keep up.

"Just what? Is there a problem with your new family?"

"You can tell us, Truce," Phoenix assured, holding her hand in his and squeezing it lightly. The comfort was too much for her to handle.

Of course she liked this family.

"No, not at all," She shook her head, mustering up a grin. "I love this family. It just doesn't feel right to like this one more than my real one."

She'd gone so far, she might as well fill them all in fully.

Trucy continued, "And… the more I look at old pictures, the more I notice I've forgotten stuff. And that hurts and I don't know what to do."

The therapist nodded, then looked down at her wrist. "Well, I think that's enough for today. Thank you, Trucy. If you'd like to see me again, please see the receptionist."

Even though she'd only let them on to that briefly, it already felt like a burden off Trucy's back.

On the way home, for being "such a brave girl", her Daddy and Mommy even treated her to ice cream.

And then, when they got home, Daddy and Mommy talked.

But it wasn't the kind of bad talk Trucy had seen – and heard – them have. For once, eavesdropping on it didn't leave a lump in her throat.

The two were watching TV – some late-night comedy, Trucy presumed, from the way the two men were laughing.

Phoenix turned to face Miles, a grin on his face wider than the Earth's circumference. "How long's it been since we've laughed like this?" He asked, his eyes looking a little dewy.

"Too long," Miles replied, nodding although there was nothing to nod at. The two's fingers were intertwined – it was subtle, something Trucy wouldn't have noticed unless she'd looked hard enough (which she was doing). They'd been doing a lot of subtle things lately.

"Wasn't today flattering?" said Miles, trying to keep the conversation going, like keeping a balloon off the floor.

"Yeah. Who knew she liked this family so much?"

"Who knew we were a family?"

"Hey, you would totally be my husband," Phoenix teased, turning to face Miles properly.

"In your dreams," Miles replied, although he couldn't hide his furious blush.

"Come to bed with me and it will be."

"You sound like Larry."

The two erupted into laughter again.

"Oh God, was that really _that_ bad a pick-up line?" Phoenix moaned, still laughing a little. "At least give me a little credit!"

"Just kiss me, you bastard."

Trucy left them in their privacy at that, skipping back off up the stairs and to her room, cuddling her quilt and grinning.


	11. Sewing

11 – Sewing

Trucy began to visit the therapist every two weeks. Sometimes, Miles and Phoenix sat with her; other times, they let her be. The therapist – Luanne, she had told Trucy to call her – was much nicer than Sue. However, the latter was still an unfortunate burden on the lives of all three members of this wacky new family.

Phoenix said Sue was helping him to overcome his "habits" (Trucy obviously knew this had something to do with the green glass bottles and how they were being replaced by green bottles of grape juice instead). When Trucy asked about how exactly she was doing that if all she wanted to do was threaten to take her, Phoenix replied that he was also getting counselling, every Thursday.

Phoenix needed slightly more frequent counselling to Trucy because his habits were "hard to give up", and he needed to in order for Trucy to not get taken away by Miss Shall.

Sometimes, it felt to Trucy as though everyone thought she was a little slow, like they had to speak to her in this strange way that always made her feel a little offended.

Still, things seemed to be getting better. Phoenix didn't seem as bothered about Maya's amnesia – not in a mean way, he was still being updated about it by Larry, but his brow no longer furrowed whenever the name was brought up. Trucy used to notice that happening a lot.

The rips in the fabric of their lives seemed to gradually mend themselves.

After about 5 months of counselling, every member of the family was back on track.

Which was when Edgeworth had first decided he would leave.

Trucy was at school the day Phoenix walked in on him packing a large red suitcase.

At first, the suitcase was cut off from view. Phoenix, still tired, staggered up behind the well-dressed man, still in a pair of boxers and a white t-shirt. "Hey, you." He yawned, placing his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder.

Miles, a little on edge, tried his best to smile, hoping the other hadn't quite noticed the packing yet. "Morning, sleeping beauty."

This caused Phoenix to smile a little to himself. His eyes were shut; he still hadn't quite woken up yet. "Last night was fun…"

"We watched TV until 2AM and you passed out," Miles reminded. That's all they ever seemed to do. Over the past half-a-year of basically dating, they hadn't accumulated many romantic memories to say for it.

"Yeah, but it was nice…" Phoenix replied, rocking himself side to side. "And now I'm awake to do this." He began to kiss down Miles' neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind him. With his hands, he started to unbutton the fuchsia waistcoat.

It felt good – so good it almost tempted Miles to think up an excuse for his packing and roll with it.

He didn't have much time to ponder this, however.

As Phoenix slipped off the waistcoat from around Miles, his eyes opened up to the scene in front of him for the first time. He let go of everything and took a step back, searching Miles' face for an incentive to drop it immediately.

"Miles?" Phoenix uttered, rubbing his eyes as though he didn't quite believe the sight he was seeing was anything but a dream. "What's going on?"

A sigh escaped the other man's lips, followed by words that flowed like quick excuses. "Wright, we knew this deal was temporary. Once your lives were back on track, I would return to mine. I've spent almost a year apart from it."

A sharp pain rushed towards Phoenix's heart, deflating and sinking it. "'Wright'? We slept in the same, fucking bed for _how long_, and you're back to 'Wright'?"

"Please, Wright, do not-"

"No, Miles, you are not walking out as if nothing happened-"

"We kissed once besides today, please fill me in on how much we've done."

Phoenix opened his mouth as if to retort and then shut it quickly again, denying he even attempted to.

Noticing the awkward silence, Miles continued in a softer tone. "I'm sorry I can't stay, but there's no longer a reason for me to."

"Funny. For a second there I thought we were your family rather than your job." Phoenix's voice was cold. He stared down at his own feet, unable to look into the eyes of the other man.

His friend. His partner. The only thing that made fixing their lives possible.

Miles shrugged his words off – or at least, tried to – making his way downstairs to the front door. "Think what you like, I don't need this."

Phoenix followed, anger boiling up inside him, tears bubbling around his eyes. "Don't you dare walk out that door, Miles Edgeworth."

Miles threw him one last apologetic gaze, and stepped out of the Wright household for good.

"Fine! Fuck you too!" Phoenix shouted, throwing the first thing he could find – an empty green glass bottle – at the door. When he used to shout, he did so in a dignified, confident manner. Now, all he could do was whine.

Collapsing into a ball on the first step, he wondered what exactly he'd possibly done to send him out the door.

Which is how Trucy found him as she returned from school. "Daddy, Mommy, I'm-"

Home. Except, the only memory this image in front of her brought up was of before Miles came and saved the day, before Miles waved his magic wand and turned the wine into grape juice and the glass into fun and the pumpkin into a carriage that would take them away from the hell they'd found themselves in, ride them through purgatory and greet them at heaven's door with smiles and laughter and a family.

This wasn't home. This was a nightmare.

She made her way across the glass sea in her shoes and to the shipwreck on the bottom step. She did so cautiously, reminiscent of the time he'd almost hit her. He could be just as drunk now.

"Daddy?" Trucy said, a safe foot away at least.

Thankfully, as teary-eyed as the face which was lifted in to view was, it wasn't bloodshot or drunken.

"Truce…" He gave her a pathetic excuse for a smile and gestured her closer. "Oh baby-girl, I'm so sorry…"

"Daddy what's wrong?" She asked, sitting down and throwing her arms around him. "Where's Mommy?"

"Mommy—I mean, Miles," Phoenix corrected himself, not wanting to play house any longer. "He's left. He needed to return to his own home. It's just you and me again."

Trucy couldn't believe it. Everything was so… perfect. To have it all taken away from her like that… it wasn't fair.

She'd already watched one family split apart. She'd already lost one mother. To lose another was too much.

"It'll be okay, though," Phoenix reassured her, watching the pain form in her eyes. "We don't need him. I'm not drinking anymore, and we're both getting counselled, and Sue Shall gets to complain to me about how Miles is gone. So everyone's a winner."

Trucy knew Phoenix was only trying to lighten the mood, but the thought of Sue Shall made her cringe. There was only so much you could hide from a social worker.

And only so many glass bottles you could break before it became impossible to clean up entirely.


End file.
